My new variety of lily is classified botanically as a Lilium hybrid; commercially as an upright Asiatic hybrid, Division I-A in the horticultural classification of the genus Lilium adopted by the Royal Horticultural Society of London.
My new variety of lily plant originated as a seedling selected from a group of seedlings among the seedling beds of test crosses of Oregon Bulb Farms at Sandy, Oreg. The cross was made in 1969 and the lily plant first flowered in 1971.
The cross was made during a breeding program having as its objective the production of brilliantly-colored, upright-flowering lily cultivars which would perform well when forced into flower under glass throughout the year, in addition to meeting the requirements of vigor, disease resistance, and rapid natural propagation in field growth. Cultivars were sought which would be disease resistant, virus tolerant, and not susceptible to leaf scorch or bud abortion when forced under glass.
The cross was made between the seed parent Lilium `Tabasco` (unpatented) and the pollen parent Lilium `Connecticut Red` (unpatented).
My new lily plant, Lilium `Venture` is characterized by its vigorous growth, its rapid natural propagation under field conditions, its healthy and vigorous growth when forced under glass throughout the entire year, its favorable growth response after prolonged storage even when the bulbs are frozen, its tall stems, its high bud count, and the deep blood red color of its buds and flowers.
My new flower plant Lilium `Venture` most closely resembles the older cultivar `Showboat` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,177). However, its flower color is slightly lighter. It is superior to `Showboat` in that it has taller stems and a higher bud count. It accordingly is much more useful as a cut flower cultivar.
My new variety of lily plant has been asexually reproduced by me and under my direction at Oregon Bulb Farms, Sandy, Oreg. Successive generations produced by bulb scale propagation and by natural, below-ground stem bulblet production have demonstrated that the novel and distinctive characteristics of my new variety are fixed and hold true under asexual propagation from generation to generation.